Dark cave
by MoVi
Summary: This is our version of the off-screen Angel/Buffy meeting between “Carpe Noctem” and “Fredless” – though not exactly what you may expect! Written as a script for an ‘A N G E L’ episode and a sequel to our Angel/Kate trilogy (Human touch, Sof


Title: Dark cave  
Summary: This is our version of the off-screen Angel/Buffy meeting between "Carpe Noctem" and "Fredless" - though not exactly what you may expect! Written as a script for an 'A N G E L' episode and a sequel to our Angel/Kate trilogy (Human touch, Soft spot, Leave and Let Live).  
Author: MoVi   
Disclaimer: These characters, as well as the episodes to which some of the dialogues refer, remain the copyrighted property of their owners/creators; it's just that they are SO good that we cannot help imagining them in new situations...  
Rating: PG-13  
Feedback: welcome!  
Distribution: can we control it? We doubt it. So please just remember who wrote it.  
Time frame: These events might take place between A3-Carpe Noctem/BTVS6-Flooded and A3-Fredless/BTVS6-Life serial.  
Spoilers: your spoiler warning is in the time frame.  
Dedication: To Erica, Fra', Sara, Silvia, who have been so kind as to read our stuff and encourage us to write more - here you are, hope you'll enjoy it!  
  
DARK CAVE  
  
Intro  
  
Hyperion lobby: late evening.  
Cordelia is alone and is clearly preparing to leave. She has just switched off her computer and is collecting a few things from her desk. The telephone rings. She is visibly annoyed, but after a few rings she decides to answer.  
  
-CORDELIA: Angel Investigations, we help the helpless. How can we help you?  
Cordelia is stunned when she hears Buffy's voice at the other end of the line.  
  
-BUFFY: Cordelia. How are you?  
  
-CORDELIA: Buffy! I.. I'm fine! How are YOU?  
  
-BUFFY: Not bad, considering... well, everything considered. Is Angel there? I need to speak with him.  
  
-CORDELIA: Nope, Angel is not here right now. He is... away.  
  
-BUFFY: Do you know when he'll be back? Or where I can find him? It's rather urgent...  
  
-CORDELIA: Yeah, I guess you two have a lot of things to discuss...  
  
-BUFFY: No, Cordelia. It's not what you think. I need his help on a...Where is he?  
  
-CORDELIA: Oh! Well, he's gone to the airport to accompany a... a friend... a former cop who helped us on a few cases and is leaving for... a holiday... You can get in touch with him, though, he's got a mobile!  
  
Cut on Buffy's incredulous face.  
-BUFFY: Angel? A mobile? God, the world HAS changed in five months! OK, give me the number.  
She takes out a pencil and a piece of paper and jots down the number.  
-BUFFY: British Airways? OK. Thanks, Cordelia. Speak soon.  
  
She ends the call. The camera pans out slightly and we see that she is in a car.  
-BUFFY (looking at someone we cannot see): Can you believe it? Angel's got a mobile!  
  
Break   
  
L.A. International Airport, hall in front of the British Airways check-in desks. Angel and Kate are standing facing each other next to a trolley with a big suitcase and a large bag on it.  
-KATE: So this is it.  
  
-ANGEL: Have you got everything? Money, passport, Angel Investigations' phone number...  
  
-KATE (smiles): Yeah, I have. And... well, I have a lot of other things I'm taking away with me.  
  
Angel hugs her, clasping her to his chest and kissing her hair. When he lets her go, Kate says  
-KATE: After all, the timing is perfect. Now that you've found out that Buffy is alive...  
  
-ANGEL: What?  
  
-KATE: Well, maybe you will have a chance to settle everything with her.  
  
-ANGEL: There's nothing to settle, Kate. Things are pretty much of the unsettleable sort between us. Buffy is JUST the only woman on this planet I cannot have around me...  
  
-KATE: Buffy is JUST the only woman on this planet you truly love...  
  
Angel puts a finger on her lips.  
-ANGEL: Hush!  
  
He leans closer to her and kisses her, softly at first, than with increasing passion. She hugs him and clings to his body.  
  
Cut to Angel and Kate kissing seen from above. The camera pans back and shows Buffy staring at them from the upper floor catwalk. Spike walks to her, in his long black coat. Unlike Buffy, he has a quite satisfied air.  
  
-SPIKE: I thought that guy had some kind of problem with women... Was it YOUR prerogative then?  
  
Buffy turns towards him and slaps him on the face.  
-SPIKE: OUCH! You HURT me!  
  
Buffy looks at him with fiery eyes.  
-BUFFY: Why don't you make yourself useful and go and get the car?  
  
She turns around and walks away.  
Close-up of Spike rubbing his cheek, a strange smile on his face.  
  
OPENING CREDITS  
  
L.A. International Airport, sidewalk in front of the entrance to the British Airways check-in area. Angel comes out of the door and stops, frozen. Buffy is standing right in front of him.  
  
-ANGEL: Buffy? Is that you?  
The sorrowful incredulity on his face gradually gives way to an expression which is a mixture of pure joy, bewilderment and relief.  
-ANGEL: Buffy!  
He covers the distance between them in a few steps and embraces her.  
-ANGEL: Buffy! Oh, God! You're here! You're back!  
  
Buffy puts her hand on his back, but she appears unsure as to whether she should hug him back or not. Recovering from the shock of suddenly finding her in front of him, Angel takes a step back and looks at her.  
  
-ANGEL: Are you OK?  
  
-BUFFY: Yeah, I guess I am.  
  
-ANGEL: How come you're here?  
  
-BUFFY: I was looking for you. Cordelia told me I could find you here.  
  
An embarrassed expression appears on Angel's face.  
-ANGEL: Have you been here long?  
  
-BUFFY (lowering her eyes): Long enough.  
  
-ANGEL: You could have called me!   
He rummages in his coat's pocket and takes out his cell phone.  
  
-ANGEL: Look! I have a mobile...  
  
-BUFFY: I know, Cordelia gave me the number but it was...  
  
-ANGEL (looking at it and speaking over her voice): ...but it's off.  
  
-BUFFY: ...off. (smiling) I'm glad the world hasn't changed SO much while I was...away.  
  
-ANGEL (looking slightly confused): You were looking for me?  
  
-BUFFY: Yeah. I need you help. Can you help me?  
  
Break.  
  
Poor Joyce's old Jeep stops by the sidewalk at the airport's exit.  
  
-BUFFY: Can I fill you in in the car?  
  
-ANGEL (seeing the car): Of course...Ah, we're not alone.  
  
-BUFFY: No. Get in in the rear.  
  
Spike is sitting behind the wheel.  
-SPIKE: Hi, workmate! Glad to see you haven't lost your habit of obeying when the boss calls!  
  
-ANGEL (with an angry tone): Damn, Buffy! (closing the door he had already opened) You sure won't have thought I could work with that... parasite!  
  
-BUFFY: But you did it for decades...  
  
-ANGEL: On Evil's side! But now...  
  
-BUFFY: Now you are both fighting on the right side and you can work together again! Please, get in the car!   
  
-SPIKE: Would you mind hurrying up? I cannot park here until the "Prince of Darkness" decides to collaborate!  
  
-ANGEL (shaking his head): No, no...Work with him? The last time I met him, he tortured me! How can you expect me to trust him?  
  
-BUFFY: I don't expect you to trust him. Trust ME.  
  
Angel looks at her deep in the eyes for a moment, then he reluctantly gets in the car.  
Spike puts the car in gear, plunging it into the evening's traffic.  
  
Cut inside the car.  
  
-ANGEL (grumbling): This is no collaboration, this is kidnapping!  
  
-BUFFY: You're right! It is kidnapping. I lied to all my friends pretending I got a phone call from you for a private meeting. You have every right to be "grudgy", I know, but do you think you could leave your old grudges aside for now? I really need you...  
  
-ANGEL (raising his hand in a 'I give in' gesture): OK, I get the point: tell me everything.  
  
-BUFFY (turned towards the rear seat): Well, there isn't much to say: there is a horrible creature to be hunted down in the mountains, a sort of huge, ugly spider which feeds on kids. We think it might have taken a whole school class yesterday (she hands him the morning paper with the news of the missing schoolchildren, who were on an outing in the mountains), but maybe we can still save them. That monster "stores" its victims enclosing them in a cocoon, still alive! That's how he likes them, but we can free them...I saw it.  
  
-ANGEL: You saw it? What do you mean? You've already tried to free them?  
  
-SPIKE (lighting a cigarette): No, it's just that I've had these dreams lately...well, nightmares in fact: I'm in this cave with the monster and I see the vanished children's faces in the cocoons... you know, the kids whose pictures are on the milk packs?  
  
-ANGEL (his eyes wide in disbelief): And when did YOU start to drink milk?  
  
-SPIKE: Hum...when Buffy threw up in my crypt one morning when she saw me dip biscuits in blood!  
  
-ANGEL (with a bitter laugh of disgust): Great! Now I find out you have breakfast together! Any other shocking news I should be made aware of?  
  
-BUFFY (objecting in her usual half childish, half sulky tone): We don't have breakfast together! We just talk.  
  
-ANGEL (increasingly irritated): God, Buf! Since when have you switched into gullible mode? How can you believe the ravings of this fool?  
  
-BUFFY: I told you, I saw it! I saw what he was seeing, in his dream!  
  
-SPIKE (looking at Angel in the rear-view mirror): I knew you wouldn't have believed it, Angel, but I found her right in front of me, in my nightmare! You will agree this is...rather unusual.  
  
(Angel is suddenly very serious and meets Buffy's worried eyes).  
-BUFFY: Do you understand now? We must act swiftly! And I needed the two best warriors for this one, I could not put the gang in danger. Plus, none of them would have lifted a finger for Spike's "ravings", and I couldn't lose time to convince them!  
  
-ANGEL (ironic): Right! Much better to kidnap an old friend with the help of a throat-cutter!  
  
-SPIKE: You used to do the same, don't put on airs now! Moreover, you can still do it, while I can't, damn it!  
  
-ANGEL: Buffy, do you hear him? How can you trust him?  
  
-BUFFY (sternly): Did I say warriors? Must have been a slip of the tongue. 'Cause right now, what I have here is two old ladies!  
  
Break.  
  
View of L.A. lights and of the coastline from a fixed point above. Cut of the rear of the Jeep passing a sign saying: S.BERNARDINO 28 miles.  
  
Cut to a dirt road which ends in an open space in the woods, at night. Spike stops the car.  
-SPIKE: Here we are. According to the newspaper, this is the place where the schoolchildren vanished.  
  
-BUFFY (with a topographical map on her knees): OK, we are here... we've got the highway to the west, the river to the south....another stream to the north... I say, we go east, uphill.  
  
-ANGEL: Do you remember anything in particular from the dream you shared? Anything which could help us find the place? An unusual tree, a rock, a stream...  
  
-BUFFY: I remember a cave, very low at the beginning, then growing bigger and higher, with the cocoons ranged on the back wall and the beast hanging from the ceiling at the center of it.   
  
-SPIKE: I only remember the kids' faces, that... beast and.... the shock of finding Buffy in my dream! I'm not used to this sort of things ...it was Dru who...  
  
-BUFFY: Wait! There are some caves marked on this map, north-east of here...  
  
-ANGEL: The police will have already searched them all...   
  
-BUFFY: We will do it again. Spiders seldom move during the day. The cops might have walked past it without seeing it. Now it's night, we could be luckier. Let's go! And remember: if you see or hear anything, two long whistles mean we must get together. I count on your vampires' senses.  
  
-ANGEL and SPIKE (simultaneously): You don't go anywhere alone!  
(They look at each other in surprise)  
  
-ANGEL: One of us is coming with you.  
Buffy is about to open her mouth to speak but is interrupted.  
  
-SPIKE: I say, two visionaries, two teams: Angel, you go with her. I'll follow the upper trail and you'll take the one across the mountainside.  
  
-BUFFY: OK.  
Spike takes a sharp Japanese katana from the car trunk, Buffy a small crossbow with iron-headed quarrels and a hunting knife she fastens to her belt, Angel a double-edged axe with a long handle. Spike waves his hand and walks towards the upper trail, while Angel and Buffy take a trail not far from the car.  
  
Break  
  
Buffy and Angel are walking in the dark woods in silence in order to be able to hear the smallest noise. Suddenly, Angel stops.   
  
-BUFFY: What is it?  
  
-ANGEL: It's very feeble, but there's a trace of fear in the air.  
They walk on.  
  
-ANGEL: No, now I cannot smell it anymore. Let's go back.  
  
-BUFFY: But I haven't seen anything...  
  
-ANGEL: Call Spike. Let's see if he can smell it too.  
  
Buffy whistles twice and, shortly afterwards, Spike appears between the bushes. He suddenly stops, right above his two companions.  
  
-ANGEL: So you're smelling it too...  
  
-SPIKE: It's like a fluctuating wave, very weak, I can't understand where it comes from.  
  
-BUFFY: Then it must be here somewhere. Let's have a closer look.  
They start to search among the bushes. After a short while, Spike moves a shrub away from what looks like a cleft in the rock.  
  
-SPIKE: There's an opening here, but it looks more like a vent hole than a cave. But it might still be a secondary entrance to the nest.  
  
-ANGEL: Let me go first. If I can get through, it means you can.  
Angel gets down on all fours and disappears in the cleft, taking the axe with him.  
  
Break  
  
Close-up on Angel's hands enlarging the cave's opening to get through. He comes out of the narrow passage and finds himself in a wider gallery where he can stand. Buffy and Spike appear behind him, then the camera pans along the cave wall to show a number of whitish cocoons arranged in a few rows from which feeble moans come. The cave's ceiling is translucent and phosphorescent. Buffy hurries to the cocoons, kneels down and starts to open them with her knife, letting the imprisoned kids out. With his sword, Spike frees a man from one of the biggest cocoons. Angel continues to walk along the gallery, trying to see its end.  
  
-BUFFY (whispering to the kids she has just freed): Crawl along that gallery. When you're out, wait for your teacher before moving. Understood?   
The children nod.  
  
-SPIKE (whispering in the ear of the adult he has helped out of the cocoon): Bring them to safety! There is a trail outside the cave to the left, follow it. When you reach an open space where a Jeep is parked, follow the road and you will come to the highway. Go! Silent and quick!  
  
-ANGEL (coming back from his scouting): Some of the cocoons contain animals, but there are also several kids! I'm afraid those of your dream are already dead. The cave gets bigger some 30 feet from here...  
  
Suddenly, something resembling an earthquake shakes the cave with a dreadful rumble.  
-ANGEL: It's moving! Maybe it's heard us... Quick! We must let them all out!  
  
They help the last children towards the exit, then they all turn and walk back to the center of the cave.   
Cut to Angel, Buffy and Spike, their weapons ready, looking up towards the ceiling. An appalling shriek resounds through the cave and, in the semidarkness, they see a huge spider fall from above and land right in front of them.   
  
-SPIKE: Now, look at you! You are even NASTIER than in my dream!  
  
Buffy shoots her first arrow, which hits the monster right under the jawbone, provoking a new dreadful shriek. Angel and Spike spread out, running to his sides. Spike attacks it holding his sword with both hands and cuts one of its legs in two. Angel dashes towards its belly, swinging his axe. His strike hits the target, but the spider sends him flying against the rock wall with one of its legs. The claw has opened a gash in Angel's stomach and he raises himself with great difficulty, holding his wound with both hands. Buffy, who is still shooting arrows at the ugly beast with her crossbow, turns to look at him and the monster takes advantage of this moment of inattention to deal a blow at her right arm with one of its sharpest legs. The blow makes Buffy spin on herself and fall hard on the cave floor. She quickly struggles to her feet and heads for the gallery when one of the spider's legs reaches her again and, clawing at her waist, starts to pull her towards its powerful jaws. Spike arrives shouting like a fury and cuts off the leg holding Buffy with a clean blow. Turning his back to the monster, he tries to help Buffy up from the ground but the beast stabs him through the shoulder with one of its claws. Beaten and wounded, the three fighters withdraw to the gallery from which they came and, one after the other, crawl outside.  
  
Cut to outside. Angel, Buffy and Spike emerge from the narrow cleft just in time to see the first light of dawn behind the branches of the trees. The survivors are already far away.  
  
-BUFFY: It's dawning! We must look for shelter!  
  
-SPIKE: There is a dry cave just behind the hill. I searched it tonight, it's not far. Let's go!  
  
Angel seems to find it extremely painful to stand, but they all start towards the hill.  
  
Cut to a few moments later. Buffy and Spike are now supporting Angel.  
-ANGEL: I can walk! Leave me and go to the cave. The sun will soon rise. I will follow you.  
  
-SPIKE: Yeah, great plan! And what comes next? You faint and we come back for you?  
  
-ANGEL: Right! Here's the brave samurai who drives the monster crazy by shortening its legs instead of aiming at a vital point!  
  
-SPIKE: Just listen to him! The victorious hero who's left the axe in the enemy's belly!  
  
-ANGEL: No problem! We can use your beautiful katana! Oh, wait, where is it? Happen to have forgotten it inside?  
  
-BUFFY (exasperated, still holding the crossbow in her hands): Stop it! And move! (They are now in view of the cave's entrance) You'd better go in with your legs, both of you, before I kick you in!  
  
They enter the cave. They drop onto the floor and look at each other.  
-BUFFY: God, guys, we are in pretty bad shape! Luckily we are not far from where we left the car. Spike, there is a first-aid kit in the trunk. Do you think you have enough time to fetch it before sunrise?  
  
Spike looks at them with a frown, then he stands up.  
-SPIKE: I'll run. (then, speaking to himself while he leaves the cave) Right! I am her GI, while she keeps her lieutenant close by her side!   
  
Cut to Angel looking at Buffy with tender eyes.  
-ANGEL: Are you hurt?  
  
-BUFFY: It's nothing serious... What about you?  
  
-ANGEL (with a half smile): A scratch. I won't die!  
  
-BUFFY (smiling): Yeah, I remember that part...But we'd still better clean the wound.  
  
-ANGEL: This sort of brings us back to old times, doesn't it?   
  
Buffy looks at him in the eyes but does not answer. Then she stands up, turns around and walks a few steps away from him.  
-BUFFY: I don't know. Sometimes I wonder whether those times really existed, or whether I just dreamt about them. I easily get messed lately.  
  
-ANGEL: I can understand that. Coming back is not easy, I know.  
  
-BUFFY: Besides, it seems that you live pretty much in NEW times, with new friends...  
  
It takes Angel a few seconds to understand what Buffy is referring to.  
-ANGEL: Oh, I guess you're talking about Kate!  
  
-BUFFY: Is that her name? If she's the smoochie-friend of the "From here to eternity" scene at the airport, yep, then I'm talking about her.  
  
-ANGEL: What is this? You can have smoochie-friends and I can't?  
  
-BUFFY: Well, when your boyfriend dumps you because he cannot do the smoochies and you find him smooching in one of the busiest airports in the world, you start thinking about a lot of things...  
  
-ANGEL: Look, Buffy, things are not as simple as you make them...  
  
-BUFFY: Aren't they?  
  
-ANGEL: And what should I say? Finding you sharing dreams and breakfasts with one of our former enemies!  
  
-BUFFY: I know it must be hard for you to believe, but Spike proved his loyalty to me on several occasions.   
  
Spike comes in with the first-aid kit, interrupting their conversation.  
-SPIKE (in a loud voice): SO here I am, the most useful chap in the team.  
  
He goes to Buffy.  
-SPIKE: Milady, let me see how badly hurt you are.  
  
-ANGEL (with a bitter laugh): I cannot believe it. Now you let him dress your wounds? You let him touch you?  
  
Spike snaps his head towards Angel.  
-SPIKE: Do you mind, pal? The lady here is hurt! Who should take care of her wounds? You, maybe?  
  
-ANGEL: Well, Buffy has never disliked my touch, while she seemed pretty much to hate yours, as you will remember!  
  
Spike passes an arm around Buffy's shoulders and looks at Angel with an evil smile.  
-SPIKE: Things change, pal.  
  
-ANGEL: WHAT? Buffy you can't have... Tell me you didn't...  
  
-BUFFY (pushing Spike's arm away): WILL YOU STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU? WHAT AM I? YOUR PRIZE?  
  
Then in a softer tone, speaking to Angel.  
-BUFFY: Angel, it's not what you think...  
  
Then she remembers the conversation they were having before Spike came in and changes her tone again.  
-BUFFY: But why should I discuss my sex life with you, I wonder! (She gives them a stern look) I tell you what we will do: I'll dress your wounds, and you will look at mine. (Then she adds, after a short pause) Are the kids happy now?  
  
None of them answers.  
  
Break  
  
Angel is at the cave's entrance, looking at the slope and the forest underneath, carefully staying away from the sun. Buffy joins him from behind.  
  
-BUFFY: It's beautiful, isn't it?  
  
-ANGEL: Yeah...(he turns to face her, leaning against the rock wall) How is your arm?  
  
-BUFFY: Better. The cut on your stomach?  
  
-ANGEL (with a tender smile): Healing.  
  
-BUFFY: Did you speak with Cordelia?  
  
-ANGEL: Yeah, the communication was not very clear from here, but I managed to tell her I was OK before I got cut off. Do you need to call someone?  
  
-BUFFY: No. I told everyone I was coming here to meet you. Which...is true, in part. I just left Spike out. They are still kind of touchy when it comes to Spike.   
  
-ANGEL (suppressing a chuckle): Well, maybe I should be relieved to hear that but... I still remember the way Xander treated me and... it's not fun!  
  
He lowers his eyes and resumes.  
-ANGEL: Buffy, I feel I owe you an explanation.  
  
He raises his head to meet her eyes and stops her when she opens her mouth to speak.  
-ANGEL: No, please listen. Wesley and I did some research on my curse. We wanted to understand, once and for all, how it works. I didn't lose my soul because I made love, Buffy. I lost it because I made love to you.  
  
Buffy is still unsure how to take this.  
-BUFFY: So it was me... I gave you perfect happiness?  
  
Angel imperceptibly nods.  
  
-BUFFY: I guess this is the sort of thing that should make a girl happy. Why is it then that I don't feel happy at all?   
Then she goes on, in a more resolved and slightly cynical tone.  
-BUFFY: So who is Kate? Someone you just bed?  
  
-ANGEL: Kate is a friend. (He looks down and adds, with some embarrassment) And, yes, we were lovers for a while.  
  
Buffy sits down on a rock nearby. Angel imitates her, letting himself slide down against the rock wall until he sits on the floor.  
  
-BUFFY: You know what? After what happened, I find I can take much more than in the past, as if I had totally modified all my parameters.  
  
-ANGEL (with a sad smile): As if you were looking at the world from a totally different angle? I know the feeling.  
  
-BUFFY: Angel, when you came back, didn't you feel like...you didn't belong here any more? As if your being here was something... unnatural?  
  
-ANGEL: Buffy, maybe it will take a while, but sooner or later you will feel, again, that you belong in this world. And you of all people should know how difficult it is to distinguish what is natural from what isn't. As you said before, you just need to give yourself some time to learn to look at the world from a different angle. It is difficult, I know, but you can make it.  
  
Cut to Spike, who, unseen, is walking towards them but stops behind a jutting rock, listening. Cut back to Angel and Buffy.  
  
-BUFFY (smiling and stretching out her hand to tenderly caress his, rested on his knee): I have a confession to make... It's true, I needed "muscle" to fight this monster but...I also needed an excuse to see you. When Willow and the others brought me back, the first thing I thought was that I wanted to see you, to share with you the pain I was feeling. I felt I couldn't truly belong again in this world until I had seen you were still a part of it.  
  
-ANGEL: Buffy, if you hadn't come to me, I would have come to you. When Willow told us that you were back, the world started to make sense again to me. It's just that I was...so scared!  
  
-BUFFY: Scared? What were you scared of?  
  
-ANGEL: Of not finding my old Buffy any more!  
  
Buffy leans over and kisses him softly on the lips.  
-BUFFY: Here she is. (Then she adds, with a sweet smile) Every time we meet, every time we talk, I realize how much I miss you.  
  
Spike walks out from his concealment as if he had just arrived.  
-SPIKE: So, what are we doing here? Planning our next move?  
  
-BUFFY (suddenly brought back to reality): Yeah,...our next move... Right, I am so much planning girl!  
  
-ANGEL: The crossbow is all that is left. Unless one of you feels like emulating Wilhelm Tell or Robin Hood and hitting that beast in a vital point at the first shot, we will have to come up with something.  
  
-SPIKE: After all, it's just a spider! How do you normally kill spiders? You crush them.  
  
-BUFFY: I've got it! Let's go find a giant frog that could swallow it! (the two vampires look at her, raising their brows) I was just being creative!   
  
-ANGEL: Fly paper.  
  
This time it is Spike and Buffy's turn to gape at him.  
-SPIKE and BUFFY: WHAAAT?  
  
-ANGEL: I'm serious! Fly paper: insects land on it and remain stuck to it! That spider drove us off with all its legs! Let's pinion it!  
  
-BUFFY: Glue! Right, a few buckets of glue and its strength would be reduced by half! Spike!  
  
-SPIKE: Buffy, you can't ask me to go and get the glue...not in full daylight!  
  
-BUFFY: The car's keys! I'm going. (She looks at them with a certain apprehension.) Can I leave you two alone without fearing that you'll dust each other at the first opportunity? It's not like you'd miss wooden stakes, here in the woods!  
  
-ANGEL: Don't worry, we'll behave ourselves. Be careful!  
  
Angel turns and walks into the cave.  
Spike gets closer to Buffy to hand her the keys.  
  
-SPIKE: Will you be able to find this place again? Even if you came back after dark?  
  
-BUFFY: Oh, I think that even in the dark I would be able to hear your quarrelling voices from miles away!  
  
-SPIKE (holding Buffy's hand for a few seconds while he passes her the keys): Don't worry: he understands me as well as I understand him on this matter...  
  
-BUFFY: I'm glad to hear that...It's being the "matter" that makes me feel ill at ease!  
  
-SPIKE: You knew it when we left Sunnydale!  
  
-BUFFY: I thought I could handle the situation...  
  
-SPIKE: And...  
  
-BUFFY: ...and...I cannot! My only thought should be to get rid of that monster, but it's the thought of you two at each other's throats that fills my mind.  
  
Buffy walks away towards the Jeep without turning back. Spike watches her leave, then he goes back into the cave.  
  
Break.  
  
Inside the cave. Angel is stirring at the fire which has been lit in a circle of stones, then he sits on a big rock and looks at the dancing flames.  
Spike picks up an ember and uses it to light a cigarette. The silence is only broken by the crackling fire.  
  
-ANGEL (still looking at the flames): So what is all this sudden sweetness towards Buffy?  
  
-SPIKE: You are 248 years old. One would expect a guy of your age to be more perspicacious than that!  
  
-ANGEL (slowly turning his head towards him): You think you LOVE her?  
  
-SPIKE: If you had a vague memory of how you loved her, you wouldn't ask me! You should know exactly what I feel.  
  
-ANGEL (with a disgusted expression): I have a soul! You haven't! How can you say you love her?  
  
-SPIKE (angry and tormented): Because I can't breathe when she's in danger! Because when she died, I wanted to die, too!  
  
-ANGEL: And you think she loves you too?  
  
-SPIKE: No, I'm not so stupid as to delude myself, but she treats me like a man, a friend. I think I am the person who is closer to her ideal mate. That's all.  
  
-ANGEL (with a bitterly ironic smile): And...what would this fine specimen be like?  
  
-SPIKE (rolling his eyes): It's you, idiot!  
  
Angel is speechless for a few seconds. Then he resumes, with a low, threatening tone.  
-ANGEL: If you hurt her in any way, I'll come and chase you and when I find you, you'll wish you were never born.  
  
-SPIKE (scornful): Believe me, my friend, you wouldn't hurt me more than I hurt myself over the last few months. You see, Angel, we are happy by just walking at her side, by spending a few moments of our existence next to her, because only here, in this world, in this dimension, in this time, you and I can dare to love her and hope to be with her.  
  
-ANGEL (with a thoughtful expression): Of course. Because she does not belong in Hell, like us.  
  
-SPIKE: Exactly, pal. She was at peace, in Heaven. But everybody assumed she was in Hell, and she didn't tell anybody.  
  
-ANGEL (looking at him): Except you.  
  
Break  
  
In the woods at night. Angel and Spike are looking for big branches to use as clubs. Suddenly they both hear strange rustling sounds coming from the monster's den, they look at each other and start to run in that direction.  
  
-ANGEL: We must prevent him from going out to look for new preys!  
  
-SPIKE: It won't be easy! And Buffy hasn't come back yet!  
  
-ANGEL: We will deal! But we should look for the main entrance to the cave: it sure can't come out the way we got in.  
  
-SPIKE: Let's start by getting in. We will find the main entrance from within: we'll just need to follow it, right?  
  
One after the other, they crawl into the cave armed with the clubs. Cautiously, they reach the big round chamber where they fought the night before, but the beast is not to be seen. Following a trail of blackish blood, they take a wide tunnel where they see the spider dragging itself on the six remaining legs.   
They follow it until they realize they have reached the den's main entrance.   
  
-SPIKE (to Angel, in a low voice): It's trying to go out: we must stop it!  
  
At this point, the monster has noticed their presence: it turns towards them and starts to spit a sticky substance at them.  
  
-SPIKE (rolling on his back to duck the spurt): And it's also trying to make a couple of nice, new cocoons!  
  
-ANGEL: We'll surround it and engage it here until Buffy arrives.  
  
Spike dashes towards the cave's main opening and reaches its edge.  
  
-SPIKE: Angel! There's a leap of at least 65 feet! (looking up) And above there's a rock wall of at least 150!  
  
-ANGEL: It's its den! I'm sure it didn't think it would have visitors when it chose it! For a spider, vertical walls are like a nice front garden path for us!  
  
The spider stretches out one of its legs towards Spike, who starts to rotate the club and to hit the beast wherever he can. Angel does the same, while the animal defends itself with its legs and spits. The fight is beginning to take its toll on the two vampires when Buffy's voice surprises them from the bottom of the cave.  
  
-BUFFY: Guys! Move away! I think I've had a better idea than glue!  
  
The slayer is dragging a sack full of glass bottles filled with a yellowish liquid.  
  
-BUFFY: Be ready to cover me! But get out of the way quickly when the bottle hits the target!  
Buffy takes one bottle and throws it with violence against the insect's hardened body.  
  
-BUFFY: One!  
The bottle shatters, spilling its content on the monster.  
  
Spike and Angel resume their incessant clubbing and the beast, driven crazy by the smell of gasoline, emits a hideous cry and rolls up into a ball. Putting the clubs under the animal's belly, the two vampires manage to turn it upside down, legs up, on the edge of the precipice.  
  
-BUFFY: TWO! THREE! FOUR! (Buffy throws the rest of the bottles, which all shatter against the spider's belly) Spike! When I say three, throw your lighter on it!   
  
-ANGEL: You cannot do it here, Buffy! We will all die!  
  
-BUFFY (with a resolved gaze): Trust me! Spike, at three. (Buffy walks back into the gallery to take a run-up) One....two....(she comes in running, jumps high and kicks the beast with both her feet to send it flying into the ravine)...THREE! Spike, NOW!  
  
Spike dashes towards the spider, throws the lit lighter on its belly, which catches fire just before it falls over the edge of the precipice.  
  
Buffy tries to put her feet to the ground, but in the acceleration of the run-up she slips on the gravelly cave floor and falls over the edge.   
  
-BUFFY: AAAHHHH!   
  
Spike, who is just a few steps from her, is quick to dive towards her and succeeds in grabbing her hand, but his hand is slippery because of the spider's spit and Buffy's down-thrust is powerful, so he soon looses his grip.  
  
-ANGEL and SPIKE: Buffyyyyy!  
  
Buffy is falling into the precipice, desperately trying to get hold of the few dead branches jutting out of the rock wall to slow down her fall.  
  
-SPIKE: Buffy, nooo!  
  
He quickly starts to climb down the rock wall, clinging to the branches and protruding rocks.  
  
Cut to inside the cave. Angel has both feet trapped in a lump of the spider's sticky substance, so he takes off his shoes to free himself and runs to the cave edge.  
  
Cut to the bottom of the rock wall. Spike covers the last ten feet with a jump, but when he lands on the grass he sees Buffy's lifeless body lying next to a big tree. He runs to her, kneels down by her side and lifts her head and shoulders, touching her forehead with his cheek, and he starts to cry, desperately.  
  
Cut to Angel climbing down the rock wall. Once he has reached the bottom of the canyon, he sees the spider's carcass between the rocks of the stream, still smoking. Then he turns, pressing a hand against his stomach wound, and starts to walk slowly towards Spike, who is cradling Buffy in the grass. He stops and leans against the big tree, closing his eyes. With a sorrowful expression, he looks up at the sky and sees that there is not much time left before sunrise. From where he is standing, he clearly hears Spike praying and crying, miserably holding the body of his beloved slayer in his arms.  
  
-SPIKE: God, please, I beseech You! Don't take her away, I pray you... not again! No, I don't accept it... I know I'm not worthy of her, I'll never be! But don't take her away from me... Buffy, Buffy! Can you hear me? This time I won't let you go alone, no. The sun will soon rise and I'll stay here with you...together with you...  
  
Angel walks to them and kneels down in the grass, taking Buffy's hand. His face lights up.  
  
-ANGEL (with a tired voice): Her pulse is regular, you idiot! She's just unconscious. Let's take her to the cave, quickly! Before the sun makes us pay dearly for our romanticism!  
  
Spike, who is still in a state of shock, does not immediately grasp the meaning of his words and looks up at him.  
-SPIKE: What? What did you say?  
  
-ANGEL (bitterly ironic): She will not die, and neither will you... unfortunately. Let's go!  
  
Break  
  
Close-up of Buffy's face. Her eyes are closed. She slowly opens them, blinking them a couple of times. The camera pans out, showing she is lying on a blanket on the floor of the cave they used as a refuge the day before. Spike is lying at her right and Angel at her left, both still asleep. Spike's coat is rolled under her head as a pillow, while Angel's served her as a blanket. She sits up, holding her head with both hands, then she struggles to her feet and staggers towards the entrance of the cave. The sun setting behind the forest trees is a beautiful sight and she watches it until only a luminous glow is left in the clear sky.  
She turns and walks back into the cave. In their sleep, Angel and Spike have turned over and come closer to each other. She looks at them with a smile. They start to stir and both reach out with their hand in the direction where Buffy was lying until a few minutes before, thus finding themselves, to their utmost horror, almost embracing!  
  
-ANGEL: Damn!  
  
-SPIKE: What the hell...  
  
Buffy breaks into a hearty laugh. The two vampires turn towards her, a half embarrassed, half offended look on their face, but they soon start to find Buffy's laughter contagious and uselessly try to stifle a laugh, too. A few more seconds and they are all three roaring with laughter.  
  
-BUFFY (laughing): Oh God! I wonder if you two will ever tell this story to anyone!  
  
-ANGEL (laughing and raising his arms): Who, me? I've never been here! I've got proofs: my car is still parked at the airport!  
  
-SPIKE (laughing): Why? Do you think I'm going to say something? Like anyone would believe me if I told them I slept with Angel!  
  
-BUFFY: OK, guys, this will be our secret, then! Spike, hand me that bag over there.  
  
-SPIKE (lifting the bag): It's heavy! What the hell did you put inside? Stones?  
  
-BUFFY: Basic necessities!  
She starts to take out containers and bottles from the bag, passing them to her companions.  
-BUFFY: Fresh pig blood.... Spike's favorite biscuits....coffee in a Thermos flask, fruit juice and... jelly donuts!  
  
-SPIKE: Ah, that's why it took you so long! Seems great, but I think I'll go back to the spider's cave to retrieve my katana first... I can leave you two alone, can't I? You won't leave without me?  
  
-ANGEL: Well, the temptation is great, but Buffy's got the car keys, so...  
  
-BUFFY: No need to worry....And we'll wait until you come back to start our picnic.  
  
-SPIKE: I'm flattered!  
Spike leaves without turning back.  
  
-ANGEL (after a few seconds of silence): So you and Spike are really friends now...  
  
Buffy, with a timid smile, because it is still weird for her to think of Spike as a friend.  
-BUFFY: Spike has changed a lot, Angel. He's no longer the old Spike you used to know...  
She sits down next to him on the blanket where they slept.  
  
-ANGEL: Yeah, I'm starting to realize that...  
  
-BUFFY: But?  
  
Angel gives her an inquiring look.  
  
-BUFFY: There was a 'but' in your tone...  
  
Angel, smiling and softly touching her cheek with his fingers.  
-ANGEL: Buffy... God, you've changed, too! BUT this is not easy for me. Seeing somebody else at your side... I'm glad because now I know he will protect you, but...there's a part of me which feels like I lost something, like I lost YOU... again.  
  
Buffy gets closer to him and leans against his chest.  
-BUFFY: You haven't. It's true, Spike may be at my side, but you are...you will always be in my heart.  
He hugs her and strokes her hair gently.   
  
-ANGEL: But I know I have no right to. The last time we met, you wanted me to stay with you, and I didn't. I thought I was doing the right thing by staying away. Then you died, and I was not there, with you. Maybe I could have prevented it.  
  
-BUFFY (touching his cheek and looking into his eyes): Nobody could have prevented what happened. Not even you. (Tears start to come down her cheeks and she hides her face against his chest again. A few seconds elapse before she resumes, in a whisper): Angel? Do you think...maybe... we will be able to be together... someday?   
  
ANGEL: I don't know, Buffy. But last night I thought you were gone, again, so I want to be sure you know it... I love you, Buffy. You know I always will..  
  
They look at each other, he gently wipes the tear streaks from her cheeks. Then their lips come slowly closer and they share a sweet, long kiss.   
Still very close to his face, Buffy smiles.  
-BUFFY: Your lips are still a magnet for mine.  
  
-ANGEL (smiling back): I'm happy to hear it. A lover wouldn't want to lose his touch... (then he assumes a more serious expression and adds) Buffy, anytime you need me...or want to speak with me, just call me, and I'll come. Promise?  
  
-BUFFY: And you'll leave your new girlfriend all alone? Won't she be angry?   
  
-ANGEL: She's not...my girlfriend. Kate knows everything about you. And she left because she realized I could never love her like that.  
  
-BUFFY (after a beat): Tell me about your new life in LA.  
  
-ANGEL (smiling): What do you want to know?   
  
-BUFFY: I don't know... Pretty much... everything, I guess!  
  
-ANGEL: And you will tell me everything about Spike?  
  
-BUFFY: Deal! After all, we've got time!  
  
Spike appears at the cave's entrance with the katana in one hand and Angel's shoes in the other, but he suddenly stops when he sees them sitting close together, their legs intertwined, smiling and talking in a soft tone. He looks at them for a few seconds, lays the shoes and the sword on a rock nearby, then he turns around abruptly and takes a few steps towards the open. He looks at the clear night sky, a sad shadow in his eyes.   
  
END OF THE EPISODE.  
  
  
  
  
  
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